Chenault Favors Entrance Fees., Daily Racing Form, 1909-05-01

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CHENAULT FAVORS ENTRANCE FEES. Lexington. Ky.. April 30.— "We have had a good meeting, a better meeting than many of us expected, have made a little- money and have demonstrated clearly enough. I think, that racing can sur-vhe without bookmakers." said Overton II. Chen Hillt. one of the executive committee of the Ken tacky Association, "but we made a mistake in aot charging entrance fees to all laics. I have can vnssed the horsemen pretty thoroughly during this meeting on this subject and 1 find that the majority of them are in favor of the entrance plan. For in-t.ii it it give* them more to run for: it has ., tendency to prevent the starting of a hoi-- merely for the purpose of education or qualification, i.s some of thorn call it: it naturally curtails the fields. I ping out the horses that have no chance ami • *-oiiiiig the danger of injury to the better ones through crowding at the post and jamming around the turns. Altogether it would. I am certain, produce iH-tter racing. To my mind the rery best race is ili.it between two hor-i— nf eipial. or very nearly t- 1 1 ■ it I . qualities, and the next best race is lwtween three horses of the ■■air general qualities as to -peed and stamina. I never really enjoy a race that has more than half a dozen starters and I know many others who are similarly constituted. I like to Watch ev.ry horse in the race, tint that is im-po-sihle win-re there is a Held f a dozen or so i.i nulling, crowding or stringing out for an eighth ■ if a mile. "We had this matl-i up at the directors meeting • it Which we decided upon plans for the meeting. Lit tlie majority of the directors were seaweed to ailooting the entrance fee plan at this lime. Some of tliein. realizing that the financial success of our uniting depended ill greater measure on the amount of money wagered through the auctions and the mii-tmls. were of the notion that the curtailed fields would cause a deeiease ill the aggregate of the money wagered. This is a mistaken view. A stndv of the betting as reported race by race in the form Charts will show that the volume of money goes to two or three horses in each race, no matter what the size of the held. I honesth believe that the betting ,.iild be better with curtailed fields of nearly Banal horse*. Another thing, a horse that isnt worth laving entrance on isnt worth having at a meeting and the man who has such a horse is better off if the eutrauci! will keen Uiiu out of races."


Persistent Link: https://drf.uky.edu/catalog/1900s/drf1909050101/drf1909050101_1_4
Local Identifier: drf1909050101_1_4
Library of Congress Record: https://lccn.loc.gov/unk82075800